NFL

Pats special teamer Slater makes 1st Pro Bowl

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP)

Matthew Slater lost a costly fumble as a rookie. He missed two
games with an elbow injury in his second season. And before his
third season he wasn't even sure the Patriots would keep him.

Now, in his fourth season with New England, he's made the Pro
Bowl as the AFC's special teams player.

''It's been a long journey,'' Slater said Wednesday. ''It's a
humbling experience, a humbling honor.''

And, perhaps, just a start.

His father Jackie was chosen for seven Pro Bowls as a tackle in
20 seasons with the Rams and made the Pro Football Hall of Fame. So
Jackie was thrilled when his son told him that a member of the next
Slater generation had been picked for the NFL all-star game.

''Oh, man, you would have thought he made the Pro Bowl the way
he was acting,'' Matthew said, ''but he's extremely proud and my
father is a big reason why I'm here today, why I've had the success
that I've had football-wise, because he's taught me how to be a
professional, taught me to respect this game and taught me how to
really work at it and prepare to be a master of your craft. So I
owe him a lot.''

There were times when it seemed Slater might not last long with
the team that drafted him in 2008 in the fifth round out of UCLA,
where his primary contributions were on special teams.

In the 12th game of that season, he fumbled away a kickoff,
starting a tie-breaking touchdown drive that sparked the Pittsburgh
Steelers to a 33-10 win, which helped keep the Patriots out of the
playoffs. The next year a dislocated elbow sustained in the final
exhibition game sidelined him for the first two regular-season
games.

Then, before a training camp roster cut last year, Slater said
it was an unsettling time for him.

''It's going to be disappointing if things don't work out the
way you want them to, but sometimes things are out of your
control,'' he said then. ''So (if) you come out with the proper
attitude and you come out and bust your butt every day, you can
leave with you head up either way it goes.''

He hasn't left yet.

Slater leads the Patriots (12-3) with 17 special-teams tackles
but doesn't get the public recognition of his teammates who made
the Pro Bowl on offense - quarterback Tom Brady, wide receiver Wes
Welker, tight end Rob Gronkowski and guards Logan Mankins and Brian
Waters - or on defense: linemen Vince Wilfork and Andre Carter.

And, he said, playing special teams is not the goal for most
kids with outstanding football talent. Who wants to race downfield
covering kicks or block for his own team's returners?

''It's kind of the dirty work that goes on,'' Slater said. ''As
a youngster coming up, you don't really think I'm going to be a
great special teams player. You want to be a great receiver or a
safety or whatever it may be.''

Patriots linebacker Tracy White knows the feeling. It took him a
few seasons to accept that he could best contribute on special
teams.

''Once you buy into it, you become better and want to be the
best,'' he said. ''I wanted to be the best special teams player I
can be on any team I've been on. With him (Slater) that's what he
bought into. In the Pro Bowl in just his fourth year? That's pretty
good.''

Brady made it for the seventh time in 12 years.

''It's a very nice thing for your peers and coaches to name you
to the team,'' he said. ''We have a lot of (Patriots) joining us,
so it's always pretty cool.''

Waters was picked for his sixth Pro Bowl and first since being
released by Kansas City and signing as a free agent on Sept. 4.

''I'm honored,'' he said. ''It wouldn't have mattered if it were
here or anywhere else, but it's definitely been a fun ride this
year and this is just another part of what's turning out to be a
really good year for me.''

Players learned of their selections Tuesday when they were
called into coach Bill Belichick's office.

''I asked real quick if it was good or bad,'' Gronkowski said
with a smile. ''It was all good.''

Slater said he'd never been called into Belichick's office
before, a good thing because that's where players often learn
they've been released.

''I was a little worried at first because you don't want to get
called into his office,'' Slater said. ''He kind of had a little
smirk on his face.''

So now the 6-foot, 200-pound Slater, selected Patriots special
teams captain before the season, has risen to the top of his craft
in the NFL.

''It's something you strive for,'' he said. ''I knew that when I
got here I had some personal goals for myself that maybe I only
discussed with my father. But I enjoy competing and I enjoy going
out and doing what I do every Sunday and, obviously, I want to work
to be the best at that.''

Related Stories

Member Comments

Please note by clicking on "Post comment" you acknowledge that you have read the Terms of Use and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Be Polite. Inappropriate posts may be removed by the moderator.